FACT: Bible prophecy is an essential part of God’s Word.

Key Scripture: “So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult…” (2 Peter 1:19 – TLB)

Definitions of Bible Prophecy:

•Holy Spirit inspired utterances regarding the future (2 Peter 1:20-21).

•History written in advance (Daniel 2:31-45).

•God-breathed foretelling of His will (2 Timothy 3:16).

•The application of God’s Word to the sins of society (Amos 5:21-24).

Reasons to Study Prophecy

1) We worship a God of Prophecy.

Isaiah 46:9-11

9) “…I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,

10) Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure;’

11) … Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.”

God is saying that He is the one and only true God and that He can prove it because He has the wisdom to know the future, the audacity to proclaim it, and the power to see to it that what He declares comes to pass. 

2) Fulfilled prophecy assures us of God’s sovereignty

Psalm 103:19 

“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.”

 When we see Bible prophecy fulfilled, we can be assured that God is on His throne and is in full control of history. We can be confident that He has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of Mankind and Satan to the triumph of His Son in history (Psalm 2:1-6)

3) Fulfilled prophecy validates the Bible as the Word of God.

The Bible is the only book in the world that contains fulfilled prophecies. There are none in the Quran, the Hindu Vedas or the Book of Mormon. There are hundreds of Bible prophecies concerning persons, cities, nations and empires which have already been fulfilled. 

Fulfilled prophecies attest to the supernatural origin of the Bible. Unbelievers and Christian liberals argue that the Bible is Man's search for God. Fulfilled prophecies prove the Bible is God's revelation to Man (Isaiah 37:26).

4) The quantity of prophecy in the Bible demands its attention.

Between one-fourth and one-third of the Bible is prophetic in nature. According to J. Barton Payne's Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy, there are 6,641 verses in the Old Testament and 1,711 in the New Testament that contain predictive material. Are all these verses simply to be put on the shelve and ignored?

In 1 Thessalonians 5:20, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Do not despise prophecies" (NKJV).

5) Prophecy validates Jesus as God in the flesh.

An angel from Heaven declared to the Apostle John that prophecy is a witness of Jesus' divinity: "For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Revelation 19:10).

Jesus fulfilled 109 separate and distinct prophecies in His First Coming. The odds of any person doing that accidentally is beyond the realm of probability. 

6) Prophecy can be an effective tool of evangelism.

The very first Gospel sermon ever preached - the one by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost - was based on Bible prophecy from beginning to end (Acts 2:14-36). 

Philip the Evangelist converted the Ethiopian Eunuch using Bible prophecy (Acts 8:26-39).

Literally thousands of people have proclaimed that they came to a belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior through reading Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, which was published in 1970 and which remained the best selling book for ten consecutive years.

7) Prophecy can be an effective tool of moral teaching.

The biblical prophets did not spend all their time talking about the future. They spent much more time forth-telling the present than fore-telling the future. This means they took the Word of God and applied it to the contemporary problems of their day, like denouncing idolatry and hypocrisy.

•  Idolatry: Isaiah 44:9-20 and Jeremiah 10:1-16.
• Hypocrisy: Jeremiah 7:8-11 and Amos 5:21-24

8) Prophecy can be a stimulus for spiritual growth.

When people start truly believing two prophetic truths, their lives will be drastically changed. Those two truths are that Jesus is returning to this earth and that His return is an event that could occur any moment. Those who believe these two prophetic truths will commit their lives to holiness and evangelism. 

Consider these four prophetic passages that link one's attitude about the Lord's return to spiritual preparation:

• Romans 13:11-14
• 1 Timothy 6:11-14
• Titus 2:11-14
• 1 Peter 4:7-13

9) Prophecy provides insights concerning current world events.

Those who know Bible prophecy are not bewildered by the increase in immorality and violence, the never ending crisis in the Middle East, and the raging apostasy in the Church. All these things are clearly prophesied for the end times. Consider:

• The disintegration of society: Matthew 24:37-38 and 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
• The crisis in the Middle East: Zechariah 12:1-3, 6-9.
• The increasing apostasy in the Church: 2 Timothy 4:1-4 and 2 Peter 2:1-3.

10) Prophecy provides hope.

Romans 8:18

"For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."

 Bible prophecy is full of glorious future promises for believers. Examples:

• Resurrection of the dead: 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-55.
• Rewards for works: Matthew 16:27 and Revelation 22:12.
• New glorified bodies: Isaiah 35:5-6 and Philippians 3:20-21.
• Reigning over the world with Jesus: 2 Timothy 2:11-12 and Revelation 5:9-10.
• Victory over Satan: Revelation 20:7-10.
• Eternal life: Matthew 25:31-46 and John 17:1-3.

The Return of Jesus

Certainly, one of the most important reasons for studying Bible prophecy is because it contains signs we are to watch for which will indicate the season of the Lord's return. We cannot know the date (Matthew 24:36 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3), but we can know the season (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, Hebrews 10:25 and Matthew 24:33).

Quotations:

"I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right." - Billy Graham (1918-2018).



"Bible prophecy helps us to better understand the future and realize the urgent need to spread the Gospel. It motivates us to personal purity and gives us hope in a hopeless age." - Time LaHaye (1926-2016).



"...if you are aware of Christ's imminent return, that will impact your desire to witness to others about the Gospel. If we take prophecy seriously, it will affect the way we live. Some of the most energetic people I know in the Church have been transformed by their study of prophecy. They're ministry oriented, reaching out to the lost because they understand what will happen in the future. Prophecy is intensely practical - it is the driving force behind evangelism and righteous living." - David Jeremiah, pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California. 

Lamb & Lion Ministries www.lamblion.com